Berklee Global Jazz Ambassadors With David Sanchez: Newport Jazz 2014

David Sanchez and the Berklee Global Jazz Ambassadors perform at the 2014 Newport Jazz Festival.

Adam Kissick for NPR

Boston's Berklee College of Music was already one of the premier conservatories for jazz when it launched a new program designed to push a select group of students beyond the classroom. The Berklee Global Jazz Institute assembles a small international ensemble to create works on the bandstand and explore connections to culture, nature and other art forms.

That band acts as a de facto emissary for Berklee and jazz across the U.S. and around the world. Appropriately, for its Newport-opening set, the group's current lineup was paired with the accomplished Puerto Rican tenor saxophonist David Sanchez, who led the ensemble in a performance of his own compositions.